Officers salute fallen comrade

Austin Police Officer Jaime Padron was buried in San Angelo on April 13, 2011.

Sound - Jennifer Rios
Edit - LaKeith Kennedy

Patrick Dove/Standard-Times
The hearse carrying Austin Police Officer Jaime Padron passes through San Angelo Friday afternoon under police escort. Padron, a native of San Angelo, was killed in the line of duty April 6 while responding to a call in north Austin.

SAN ANGELO, Texas - The hundreds of police officers gathered in front of the church fall suddenly silent.

For hours, they've stood outside so others could find space to sit inside. The men and women represent law enforcement agencies from around the state. They come from police departments, sheriff's offices, the Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Forest Service, Air Force Security Police. Everyone from Texas Rangers to game wardens.

As the funeral for the former San Angelo officer continues in the church, groups of officers gather on the wide sidewalk. It's a reunion, a gathering of friends, as officers shake hands and swap stories.

Most wear uniforms with polished black shoes or boots and wide belts bristling with tools of their trade, including handguns. Others wear creased jeans, western boots, starched white shirts, blazers and hats.

"Keeping you, your family and our community safe," reads large lettering on the sides of the dozens and dozens of Austin Police Department patrol cars parked around the church.

Padron, officials say, did just that a week ago, responding to a call about an intoxicated person in an Austin Walmart. He died after the suspect shot him.

Friday, as if by plan, the officers fall silent. They turn toward the door of the church, closing ranks, moving closer together, an army of brothers and sisters.

This silence lasts for the longest time. Barking dogs in the distance and vehicles passing on nearby Bryant Boulevard are all that intrude.

When a plastic bottle rattles across the silence it sounds like a freight train until a state trooper pins it to the parking lot under his boot.